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In our experiences, we have seen too many people complaining about the lanes and/or approaches not being like "back home," or not being able to concentrate on their bowling because they needed some tape to put in their thumb hole.

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Bill Vint | PBA Media Relations
Professional Bowlers Association | 719 Second Avenue, Suite 701 | Seattle, WA 98104

PBA Spare Shots

INTENSE ¡°ROOKIE OF YEAR¡± RACE SHAPING UP ON PBA SENIOR TOUR
While the PBA Senior Player of the Year contest is the most competitive in years, the race for PBA Senior Tour Rookie of the Year is just as intense because three of the top four Player of the Year candidates are, in fact, Senior Tour ¡°rookies¡± ¨C all of whom have won a title this season.

PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. is the leader in the POY contest, which will be decided by points earned for top-five finishes. With his runner-up finish in the Etonic Senior U.S. Open, Williams earned 12 points, bringing his 2012 total to 32. He has one ¡°standard¡± title (in the Senior Don Carter Memorial) ¨C worth 16 points ¨C and two fourth-place finishes (worth two points each).

But ¡°rookie¡± Amleto Monacelli vaulted into second place with 24 points earned as winner of his first Senior ¡°major¡± title in the Senior U.S. Open. Right behind Monacelli are two more ¡°rookies¡± - Bob Learn Jr. (18 points) and Lennie Boresch Jr. (16 points). Johnny Petraglia also has 16 points, but his season is basically over after recently undergoing surgery to his right (non-bowling) shoulder.

Boresch won the season-opening Sun Bowl in The Villages, Fla.; Williams won the second week in Winter Garden, Fla.; Learn won the third event in Mooresville, N.C., and Petraglia won in Dayton, Ohio.

While the USBC Senior Masters, currently underway at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas, will have a strong bearing on the POY race (as a major, top-five points are worth 24, 12, 8, 4 and 2 points), it won¡¯t necessarily decide the Rookie of the Year contest, which is voted upon by PBA members and the news media. Following the Senior Masters, there are three more tournaments on the 2012 schedule (June 17-20 in Brentwood, Calif.; Aug. 6-9 in Hammond, Ind., and Aug. 11-14 in Decatur, Ill.)

Senior Rookie of the Year candidates become eligible in the year in which they compete in at least three PBA Senior Tour tournaments or in the year in which they compete in their seventh overall Senior Tour tournament, whichever comes first. All eligible rookies within the top 10 in Senior Tour earnings and points will be placed on the ballot.

ETONIC PBA SENIOR U.S. OPEN NOTES:
¡ñ In the four Senior Tour major (Senior Masters and Senior U.S. Open) that Walter Ray Williams Jr. has entered since becoming eligible for the Senior Tour in 2010, he has finished second in each. He is currently trying to improve upon that streak in this week's USBC Senior Masters.

¡ñ On his way to earning the top qualifying position in the Etonic Senior U.S. Open, Williams broke records for 51-game pinfall, actual and with bonus pins, with 12,030 actual pins (235.8 average) and 12,510 pins including bonus pins. The previous records were set by Johnny Petraglia in 2008 with 11,809 (231.5 average) and 12,303 pins, respectively.

¡ñ Following Senior Tour victories earlier in the season by Walter Ray Williams Junior, Bob Learn Junior and Lennie Boresch Junior, the dry-witted Williams remarked, ¡°I thought this was supposed to be a Senior Tour¡­¡±

NEXT STOP: BRENTWOOD, CALIFORNIA
At the conclusion of the USBC Senior Masters Friday, the world¡¯s top professional senior bowlers head to Brentwood, Calif., to complete their western U.S. swing in the PBA Senior Northern California Classic, June 17-20, at Harvest Park Bowl.

Leading the list of approximately 100 players will be reigning Senior Player of the Year and defending champion Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska. Mohr won last year¡¯s Senior Northern California Classic by defeating Hugh Miller of Seattle, 223-215, in the championship match.

PBA Hall of Famer Dave Soutar of Bradenton, Fla., who is wrapping up his final season after a 51-year PBA career, will make his final visit to Brentwood. Also entered are fellow PBA Hall of Famers Tom Baker, King, N.C.; Wayne Webb, Dayton, Ohio, and former Stockton resident Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla.

REGIONAL ROUNDUP: BOHR, WISEMAN POST KEY VICTORIES
After qualifying 13th, Nathan Bohr of Wichita, Kan., battled his way to his 12th PBA Regional title on Sunday, June 10, in the joint PBA Southwest/Midwest Wichita Open at Thunderbird Lanes, knocking off No. 10 qualifier Joseph Steiner of North Conway, N.H., 228-161, to claim the $2,700 first prize.

Bohr got some help along the way when two lower-seeded players cleared away a pair of the PBA Tour¡¯s top players in the early elimination rounds. No. 16 qualifier Joe Findling of Mesquite, Texas, knocked top qualifier Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, out of the tournament with a 3-1 decision in their best-of-five-game Round of 16 match, and No. 11 Jessica Baker of Wichita threw a 289 at defending champion Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in the deciding game of their best-of-three, Round of 8 contest. Bohr then eliminated Findling in the semifinal round, 278-234, while Steiner disposed of Baker, 208-182.

In the weekend¡¯s only other PBA regional, 12-time PBA Tour winner Danny Wiseman of Baltimore defeated Jeff Zaffino of Warren, Pa., 279-268, to win the PBA East Region¡¯s Dominick DiCicco Memorial presented by Ebonite at Brunswick Zone in Turnersville, N.J., on Sunday.

Wiseman, who qualified third, averaged 261 for the three games of the stepladder finals and struck out in the 10th frame of the title match to upset Zaffino, the tournament¡¯s top qualifier. The win was Wiseman¡¯s 10th in PBA regional competition and included a $2,500 prize.

The June 15-17 weekend includes the PBA South Region Reality Check Classic at Brunswick Harbor Lanes in Melbourne, Fla.; the PBA East Region Howell Lanes Open presented by Brunswick in Howell, N.J., and a pair of ¡°animal pattern¡± championship events: the PBA Central Region J.D. Producing Inc./Triway Lanes Cheetah Open presented by Hammer in Wooster, Ohio, and the PBA West/Northwest Wine Country Scorpion Open presented by Columbia 300 at Double Decker Lanes in Rohnert Park, Calif.

In all PBA regional ¡°animal pattern¡± championships, players can pay an optional ¡°animal pattern¡± entry fee for the right to win a full paid entry into the 2012 PBA World Series of Bowling which will be held Nov. 2-11. Also, in all seven PBA Regions, the player who accumulates the highest number of competition points in the region¡¯s four animal pattern events (Cheetah, Scorpion, Chameleon and Viper) will earn a World Series entry.

For complete PBA regional schedule and entry information, visit pba.com and click on ¡°Regional Tours¡± under the Schedules tab.

QUICK NOTES:
The PBA¡¯s recent membership drive resulted in 150 new members, another 36 ¡°PBA24¡± new members in the 18-24 age group, and a combined total of 142 reinstatements and re-activated memberships.

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